by I have reached the age where simply working out harder isn’t possible. I don’t have the endurance or recovery ability I once had. As I’ve listened to other people, the benefits of fasting are obvious. First, it doesn’t require any strenuous exercise. Second, it’s really not difficult to put a stop on my eating.
There’s a good book called Eat, Stop, Eat by Brad Pylon. This idea makes lots of sense. Instead of cutting back on foods or the amount of food, just cut out eating anything for a day or two a week. Besides restricting your caloric intake, it has many other healthy side benefits.
Plan for the long haul
You’re probably going to be doing this for a long time, like the rest of your life. Just like an exercise plan, commit to something that is reasonable. Here are some useful ideas to make that possible:
- Underage 40, do a 16 hour/8 hour split;
- After age 40, fast every other day or 2-3 days or more a week;
- Why longer fasts for the older population?
- Older population tends to respond better.
- Human growth hormone responds better.
- What you should be consuming during fast:
- Keep it simple: water, black coffee, green tea, regular tea.
- Increase your sodium levels, sodium doesn’t always equate to high blood pressure. Need to keep up electrolytes. It’s a good idea to use 1 teaspoon of salt to a gallon of water
- Enhance your Catecholamines, adrenaline, epinephrine – stop consuming caffeine intake all day.
- Can you work out in a fasted state? Yes. You’ll get a lot more benefit from your workout. You recruit intramyocellular lipids which allow you to work out at a lower intensity. Easier on your body, quicker workout recovery.
- Don’t take vitamins or supplements especially antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, fish oil, etc. during your fast.
- Fasting helps restore your telomere length. Telomeres are the ends of your DNA. There seems to be a correlation between age and telomere length.